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The Departments of Commerce and Energy announced June 19 selections for three Centers for Building Operations Excellence that will receive $1.3 million to create and deploy programs aimed at training current and incoming building operators

On June 21, the Green Building Council, the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, ICLEI International, the World Bank, the Eye on Earth Summit, the Earth Council Alliance of Rio de Janeiro, and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies Program on Energy, Resources, and the Environment together announced the launch of the Global Initiative on Urban Resilience with the goal of fostering building and infrastructure development that will make cities more resilient against climate change

The General Services Administration announced last week that it will issue a recommendation this fall on whether the federal government should continue using a third-party certification system as the primary federal standard for green buildings

The Interior Department inspector general issued a report June 12 arguing that the Bureau of Land Management could improve its renewable energy program by more efficiently collecting rental fees on land it manages, clarifying bond guidance, and implementing a competitive bidding process on projects

Speaking at a June 5 event sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs Kerr-Ann Jones said that the federal government and the private sector are seeing an increased role for green buildings

At a June 5 event with Energy Secretary Chu, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced that the city is joining President Obama’s Better Buildings Challenge, a national leadership initiative that calls on CEOs, university presidents, and state and local leaders to reduce their portfolio-wide energy use by 20 percent by 2020 and to share the results of their energy reduction strategies

Eight House Democrats and 48 House Republicans sent a letter to the General Services Administration May 18 saying that proposed changes to a third-party rating system to certify green buildings place arbitrary restrictions on chemicals used in building products and could drive up building costs